testdrive | welcome to the new age.

[geistnet]

testdrive meme.

1. First Day At Falner
You have just arrived at Falner Estate, a sprawling, beautiful, 400-hectare co-located space between Britain, Germany, and the Philippines, and the main base of Netsach. The flora and fauna in the area gives both a sense of familiarity as it looks at first glance like things you’ll find on Earth, and a weird sense of otherworldliness. Given the size of the place, the Estate is less of a compound and more like a town unto itself. The older buildings within the estate are gothic in their construction, and clear throwbacks to 19th Century Europe. The newer facilities, however, sport cutting edge contemporary designs that were clearly inspired by Fourth World architecture and technology.

If you want a better idea on what can be found on the estate, you can refer to this link.


2. A Day On The Job
You are pushing papers at Methuselah, doing research at the Arcanum, or going out on patrol -- whatever it is that you're doing, it's just another day for you as a Hunter of the Vigil.


3. Let's Head Down to Haven
Find yourself itching for a night out on the town? Why not head over to Haven, the classy nightclub that looks like a large, monolithic black building with no visible windows from the outside and the name of the club emblazoned in bold, white letters on one side.

Haven is located in Makati City, and is open to the public (especially the local supernatural community), but you might want to prepare yourself to wait in line for a very, very long time – unless you’re a Hunter, of course.

Falner’s Maenad Division holds office on top of Haven, as does Ordo Daywalker. Some of Haven’s staff also live above the night club.


4. The Awakening
Want to tag out your character's origin story? Set the stage and let's see where things go.


5. Choose Your Own Adventure
If none of the suggested premises hit the mark, feel free to set things up and let's do a tag round.


Instructions for the Testdrive:
1. Specify your chosen scenario number on the subject line.
2. Should you wish to tag with a specific character already established within Waking the Dead, indicate who. The current list of available NPCs can be found over here.

Comments

[icarusalsoflew]

"Sounds like you fit in fantastically with us."

Inasmuch as he's joking, it's also at least half-true. He even has statistics to prove it, if she asks.

Enough of that, though.

"Anyway, Netsach may have been the ones who found you, but you've actually got a choice if you're planning on joining the Vigil."

[bloodsinger]

"Great."

A little bit dry, but she manages to smile wryly.

The next part gets her interest again though. "Come again?"

[icarusalsoflew]

"This group isn't the only conspiracy in town, right?"

He leans forward, folding his hands together, smiling at her.

"The Kaiser has already told me to let you decide and make all of the necessary arrangements once you do."

[bloodsinger]

That makes her rise an eyebrow. "That's awfully considerate of the Kaiser. So exactly what else is out there, then?" She has some idea, but assuming at this point would be silly.

[icarusalsoflew]

"Hold on."

Hikaru picks up his tablet again and opens up all of the primers on the different compacts and conspiracies. Then he's handing it back to Sophie.

"The Methuselah's the main controlling body of the Vigil since they're Pax Deorum's watchdogs... one of their most basic functions for the bulk of their operatives, though, is police work. The Midnight Riders work hand-in-hand with them by patrolling the roads and any space between two cities. Netsach's the supernatural army at Pax Deorum's disposal, and Zangyaku - my group - is their black ops equivalent. Aegis Kai Doru primarily handles the study, creation and acquisition of Relics, so hunting, for them, is more of a matter of self-defense than anything else. As for the others..."

He chuckles a bit, as he immediately begins to imagine what it'll be like to have someone like Sophie in the Dragon Spires, or doing the rounds in Vatican City.

"Well, you're not eligible for Rhiannon or the Thrones at this point, and I doubt that you're interested in being a nun or anyone even vaguely religious, so that knocks the Brotherhood of Violence and the Order of the Mani dello Spirito Santo out."

[bloodsinger]

There is just silence on Sophie's side, with the eventual nod or scoff as Hikaru speaks. That's a lot of important information coming her way really quickly and she doesn't want to miss one bit of it. Even after he is done, Sophie is still checking the tablet, eyes going from it to Hikaru's face, almost as if she were expecting him to start laughing and tell her it was all a joke.

"So," she says tentatively. "If I was interested in, say, Zangyaku...what would I need to do? From what I can gather it's pretty exclusive." And suddenly she felt like the kind to be excluded. She was a nobody after all.

[icarusalsoflew]

"I'd tell you that I'm very pleased by your interest, and that you're going to have to spend at least six months training here with Netsach at Balamb Academy first. If you graduate as one of the top ten students of the special cases class for your age range, then I'll let you join Zangyaku."

This one does, after all, really believe in choice. It takes a different sort of person to say, right on the fly, that they wanted to join his conspiracy.

"Does that seem fair?"

[bloodsinger]

Sophie smiles sofy. "It seems pretty damn fair, and more than enough motivation for the time being." It also sounds impossible, since Sophie is pretty sure she is already in disadvantage on account on being new and all, but she loves a good challenge.

And with That out of the way... "You mentioned something about managing this curse business? There is no point on doing much if I'm so sort of really bad luck hazzard for everyone around me."

[icarusalsoflew]

"Ah, right."

He pauses there, in order to go for his cigarettes. He is, indeed, a quintessential Keeper of the Vigil right down to the bad habits.

"The curse that you're under has a lot to do with levels of intimacy, correct?"

[bloodsinger]

Sophie shifts in her spot, suddenly uncomfortable. "If all the, how did you call it? Bad karma? If all the terrible stuff the Will did is royally screwing everyone around me I make emotional bounds with because who knows why it can't just give me a bad time..."

She waves a hand. "Then yeah, levels of intimacy sounds like a nice euphemism for lethal friendship."

[icarusalsoflew]

That makes him chuckle, both because he does find it funny and because the fact that Sophie is trying, in some way, to use humor to diffuse the situation and deal with her own sentiments on the matter means that she's probably going to be fine.

No. She will be fine, if he'll have any say in the matter.

"Intimacy determines one's sympathetic ties to people, places, and objects. In order to keep the curse from activating, all we'll need to do is constantly destroy the magical equivalent of the sympathetic links that you build to people. That will let you get as close to people as you like without fearing that you'll end up harming them."

[bloodsinger]

Using humor to deal with despair is something she's getting better at by the second.

The idea takes a moment to actually make sense in her head. "And by destroying that you won't also destroy whatever real links I make?" It was difficult to think of one not affecting the other.

"If you need me to be a bitch to everyone for their own safety... I mean, that's easier to maintain for as long as needed."

[icarusalsoflew]

"That's the beauty of it: it really won't."

The smile on his face is partially obscured, in the next moment, by him bringing his cigarette back to his lips and taking another drag.

"A sympathetic link in the Pattern is just the universe's way of recognizing that there is a relationship. It's kind of like how, when you get your passport, you have to declare that you're single, married, or whatever else. It's nothing but a formality that doesn't actually change the connections you've made with others. It's also perfectly 'legal' by the universe's standards, which does put it a step above the analogy I just used."

Pausing again, and thinking a moment.

"The only real consequence that this might have will be that future friends or comrades in the Vigil will be unable to affect you with spells at a distance, even if they're good spells. Either that, or it'll just be very difficult for them. Still, the same applies to anybody who's out to harm you through sympathetic links."

Which, by his estimation, isn't a bad deal.

[bloodsinger]

By the look Sophie is giving him, she feels the same way. A fair trade off is a fair trade off, period.

"Why do I feel this involves me sitting in the middle of a magic circle every weekend or something along those lines? Not that I have anything against magic circles; I guess you can't just dispel the thing and be done with it."

[icarusalsoflew]

"That might have been the case a few centuries back, but we've all gotten better at our jobs."

Even while he's telling you this, he's firing off another telepathic message. This one's directed to the woman working away on the fourth floor, peering at reports through horn-rimmed glasses.

Lia, I think we're good to go. You've been listening in?

(Of course. It'll be done in a moment.)

Thanks. I owe you.

"We'll just have to give you a Relic that'll work its magic 24/7. You'll need to keep it on your person at all times, but the one who will be making it for you is probably going to make that easy for you to do."

Liandrin Delacroix does, after all, like being thorough.

[bloodsinger]

It might be that she's actually pretty tired (something she keeps forgetting) but Sophie chuckles at that. The fact she then imagines a pair of magic panties doesn't help to keep that smirk down.

She regains her serious face a moment later though. "So I just hold to a thing and mind my business. I can do that."

[icarusalsoflew]

"Good. If you're aiming to start at Balamb, you're going to need to wrap all of your personal business up by the end of the month. I guess that includes getting used to how we do things down here."

(It's ready. ETA: after you finish your cigarette.)

You know me so well, love.

"Falner's Cerberus Division will help you with whatever you need, and they'll do the government paperwork for you. I think your ID card with this base and all of the other things that'll mark you as one of Balamb's students will be ready by tomorrow." He eyes her curiously. "Do you want to live on the Estate, or do you want to stay outside?"

[bloodsinger]

"Won't take that long on my end. Whether my company makes it alive after removing all its rotten bits is beyond me anyway." She considers letting a few people know she's alive, but she's actually enjoying being dead to the world, oddly enough.

"Inside, if possible? I don't think I'm mentally ready to step into the world for the time being. And you guys work fast."

[icarusalsoflew]

"It is. You can either go with the free dormitory room you're going to get by merit of joining Class 001, or we can get a permit for you to live in the West District. You'll have to buy a place there, though, or shell out the cash to make your own."

If he knew what Sophie was thinking about the merits of being dead to the world for a time period of their choosing, he'd agree with her completely. It was kind of like an extended vacation, wasn't it? Only slightly more fucked up.

"Fucked up", though, was "normal" where they were.

[bloodsinger]

"Can I buy property later on? If that's the case I would prefer to stick with the dorms for the time being." She didn't say why, but Sophie doesn't want to be alone, not until she feels like she can function on her own again. That might take a bit of time.

"Funny, I'm tired but the last thing I want to do is sleep. Do we need to discuss anything else?"

[icarusalsoflew]

"No, we don't. If you need the company, though, I've got all night."

Hikaru meant that too. He wasn't just trying to be nice and doing his job. Their stories were similar, in a way, and Hikaru had a special issue with people who thought that they could fuck around with others in the name of their cause and get away with it.

[bloodsinger]

Sophie leaned back, sighing. "I keep hearing whispers in my head. I know it's my Bloodsinger, but it's getting a bit tiring that I can't even tell what is trying to say, or even if it sounds male or female. They do have genders, right? And names."

It's a long shot, but maybe Hikaru can do something about it.

[icarusalsoflew]

He was familiar with that feeling, although now it was one that came between him and Brother Death. He and Sumire have not been joined together for over fifty years.

"They do, technically speaking. Would you like me to check and see if I can talk to it myself? We're still waiting on the relic that you're going to need to carry around anyway."

[bloodsinger]

After thinking about it for a moment, Sophie nods. "Okay, but what does that mean? Is this thing going to possess me? I don't think I need to remind you that I already went through one of those Rapture things, and it wasn't easy on anyone." Specially her, but that was an understatement.

"Anyway, go on."

[icarusalsoflew]

"Would you like to be awake while I talk to it? Because, if you do, it might hurt."

He's not going to mention, just yet, the fact that if she had been any average Bladian, she would not have gotten affected at all. They've covered a lot of ground today, and Sophie wasn't exactly at her best at the moment.